Burial caskets often include a decorative lid underside, or casket top interior. The casket top interior is often decorative because it is visible when a casket lid is often opened fully or partially to permit viewing of the deceased. It is thus desirable for the viewable portion of the casket top interior to be aesthetically pleasing.
To this end, the casket industry has widely employed certain decorative mechanisms in casket top interior design. One common casket top interior design includes rolls and a center panel. Rolls are shaped design features that extend inward from each edge of the casket top to form a picture frame effect. The center panel is disposed within the casket top such that the center panel is substantially bordered by the rolls. Both the center panel and rolls are typically cloth covered and hide the otherwise functional and non-aesthetic underside of the casket lid.
Because of the prominent nature of the casket top interior during the viewing, a desirable feature offered by casket manufacturers are center panels having selectable ornamental designs. The center panel design may include religious symbols, poetry, or prayer material deemed appropriate for the deceased. Such designs are typically embroidered or otherwise affixed to fabric, which is then glued or stapled to the center board. Preferably, the center panels are interchangeable such that casket consumers can select a personalized decorative center panel for installation into one of a number of standard casket models. In any event, most center panels are constructed of a semi-rigid or rigid base panel and a fabric covering.
In existing caskets, the center panel and/or rolls are affixed directly to the underside of the lid of the casket by gluing, stapling, and/or a tension/friction fit. For example, the underside of the casket lid can include channels or ledges configured such that one end of a roll panel is inserted into the underside of the casket lid and is then bent so that the other side of the roll panel can be inserted into the underside of the casket lid and the roll panel is held to the casket lid by tension. This is common in metal caskets. One disadvantage to this arrangement is that it complicates construction by requiring a more complex lid construction, including channels or ledges formed in or added to the lid that are correctly sized and arranged to receive the rolls in a tension fit. This disadvantage is particularly known in wood caskets, which require specific addition of the ledge
Another disadvantage is that in order to allow for custom or at least selectable and interchangeable center panels, the construction relies on a friction fit of the center panel in the rolls, which can have reliability issues. Yet another disadvantage to this arrangement is that each piece affixed to the underside of the lid of the casket must be arranged and attached independently, increasing the risk for an irreparable error as well as labor costs.
A need, therefore, exists for a casket top interior assembly that can be easily constructed and affixed to the underside of the lid of the casket without complicating the production of the casket or increasing assembly complexity.